Though many still begrudge Patrick for her lack of success and refuse to take her seriously, she at least attracts attention and brings fans to the sport, especially female fans and kids. How many other underperforming drivers can say that?

She may continue to struggle when she moves to Sprint Cup full time next year, but she will continue to be an interesting story and a strong attraction. She may be a novelty to some, but Patrick brings something to the sport that NASCAR sorely needs from its drivers — spunk, personality and pizzazz.

NASCAR's current Sprint Cup car was not only a handful for drivers and teams, it was cosmetically ugly.

Fans just couldn't relate to the boxy vehicle with a silly rear wing on the deck. As much as NASCAR tried to make the car look like the popular stock cars of yesteryear, fans just weren’t buying it.

With drivers and teams continuing to struggle with it, it turns out that the car, which was, ironically, dubbed the Car of Tomorrow, was neither futuristic nor a blast from the past.

But thankfully, NASCAR is rolling out a whole new car next season. It is designed to give the manufacturers more brand identity and, so far, it seems to be much more appealing to fans.

How will it perform on the track? Well, that will be one of the big stories in 2013.

A little emotion

The 2010 and 2011 seasons were memorable for one big reason — “boys have at it.”

NASCAR let its drivers mix it up on the track and off, adding more drama, excitement and some enticing storylines to the action on the track.

For most of 2012, that was missing. There were few wrecks, few caution flags and drivers acting more like choirboys than surely racers with an attitude.

That all changed on one memorable night at Bristol, when Stewart and Mtt Kenseth locked doors and went crashing down the frontstretch. Stewart then flung his helmet at Kenseth, using the windshield of Kenseth's car for target practice, and NASCAR Nation erupted.

It would be more than two months before another dust-up, but it, too, was a doozy. When Gordon retaliated against Bowyer at Phoenix, it set off a wild crew brawl between their teams that made headlines across the country.

While NASCAR can’t allow drivers to run over each other and outright fight, such confrontations have been part of the sport since the beginning and fans love to see their favorite drivers showing some passion and emotion.

An angry Jeff Gordon

The only thing more surprising than the crew brawl that erupted at Phoenix is that it was started by the normally mild-mannered Gordon.

A four-time champion, Gordon has for years been one of NASCAR’s greatest ambassadors and led spokesmen. And he’s been known for carrying himself with class and professionalism.

But Gordon, 41, has gotten a bit cranky in his old age. In two of the past three seasons, he’s either gone after another driver (Jeff Burton at Texas in 2010) or intentionally wrecked a driver who got under his skin (Bowyer at Phoenix).

Gordon doesn’t win as much as he used to — just two wins this year and just six in the past five years — and hasn’t been a serious title contender since 2007.

As his career winds down, it’s good to see the feisty Gordon show some passion and drive. He showed at Phoenix that he’s not about to be run over and pushed around, and that’s a good thing for one of the sport’s legends.

Fans desperately wanted to see someone other than Johnson win the Sprint Cup title. Johnson cooperated, crashing at Phoenix to hand the title to Keselowski. Johnson, who was as gracious in defeat as he was during his five straight championships, has now gone two straight seasons without winning a championship.

That’s something for fans to be thankful for. Now they can move on and perhaps find someone else to pull against.

Fans should be thankful for Johnson for two reasons: That for five years they witnessed absolute greatness and saw the rise of one of the classiest, most respected athletes in all of sports; and that he wins so much that he gives fans someone to hate.

Without Johnson and his annual dominance, fans wouldn’t have anyone to pull against or complain about, and that just wouldn’t be right. That would be as boring as … well, the Johnson that fans perceive him to be.

The resurgence of the Busch brothers

Let’s face it, love them or hate them, NASCAR is a whole lot more interesting when Kurt and Kyle Busch are wreaking havoc on the Sprint Cup circuit.

Kurt kept things interesting this season, whining and complaining, threatening reporters and trying to run over innocent crewmen while he was banished to the purgatory that is Phoenix Racing.

But Kyle, for the most part, was quiet as a church mouse. That’s what happens, I guess, when you win just one race and don’t get any speeding tickets.

While Kurt showed signs of a comeback after moving to Furniture Row Racing, Kyle scored more points during the Chase than every driver but champion Brad Keselowski.

NASCAR fans should hope that both are back on their game next season. Why? Because the more they win, the more they are in the spotlight. And the more they are in the spotlight, the more likely they are to spontaneously burst into flames when things don’t go their way. And what is more fun than that?

Love 'em or hate 'em, NASCAR fans should be thankful for the Busch brothers, because the sport is a whole lot more interesting when they are winning and stirring things up.